Post-partum is a mother in Baby Ruby (now streaming on Hulu). Playwright Bess Wohl jumps from stage to screen with her directorial debut that taps into the horrors of parenting. But is it, in fact, a horror film?
The Gist: French ex-pat Josephine (Noémie Merlant) — Jo for short — is an influencer about to become a mommy blogger once she welcomes her first child with husband Spencer (Kit Harrington). She’s a boss lady who loves everything to run according to her order. As any parent would tell you, that becomes a mere illusion once you bring kids into the picture. Ruby is far from the angelic Instagram prop she was hoping to birth. With time, it becomes increasingly unclear if there’s something abnormal in Ruby … or just in Jo’s expectations for maternity itself.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Rosemary’s Baby but make it post-partum with a sprinkle of gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss to make it feel of the moment.
Performance Worth Watching: At the risk of angering the legion of fans who adore Noémie Merlant from Portrait of a Lady on Fire and TÁR, the real powerhouse of Baby Ruby is Meredith Hagner as an overbearing mother who strikes up an odd relationship with Jo after a rocky first interaction. She’s the only cast member who’s really willing to lean into how big and brassy the tone wants to be, and it feels like the whole movie would be better if it was ready to get on the level of Hagner, a standout from TV’s Search Party.
Memorable Dialogue: It’s better to hear Noémie Merlant say this than to read it, because she chants it like it’s a battlefield slogan: “I am not gonna let you win!” Yes, it’s directed at her screaming baby.
Sex and Skin: There are a number of breasts sighted in Baby Ruby, though they are often times viewed in a violent capacity (or in the relative peace of breastfeeding). Only once are they visible in a sexual context, and it’s so jarring to one of the participants that it jolts viewers as well.
Our Take: There are moments of genuine insight into modern parenting, such as whenever it becomes clear why Jo wants Ruby so quiet in one scene — she needs her well-behaved for what she wants to share with the world on social media. But those moments of clarity get lost in choppy storytelling by Wohl as the film fluctuates between horror, camp, and earnest drama. She clearly has a lot to say here, but little of it comes across effectively. Baby Ruby feels full of threads that might have had more time to develop in a film longer than 93 minutes, but their remnants poke up here and there to confuse viewers. Where’s the undercurrent of sexual repression coming from? What’s the deal with the half-baked and entirely obvious critique of America’s failure to support parents? And that absolutely insane ENDING?! Wohl so muddies the waters between Jo’s friends and foes that it just inspires apathy and indifference.
Our Call: SKIP IT. The pieces are there for something good in Baby Ruby, but they don’t ever connect as satisfyingly as they should. Without firmer direction and more control over genre and tone, what Wohl wants to render as ambiguous gets received with ambivalence.
Marshall Shaffer is a New York-based freelance film journalist. In addition to Decider, his work has also appeared on Slashfilm, Slant, The Playlist and many other outlets. Some day soon, everyone will realize how right he is about Spring Breakers.